6 Things You Need to Stop Doing If You Want to Be Successful
By Karen Dikson
Success today is overrated. There’s a widespread mentality that every one of us can be successful if we truly want to—that’s bull, and there are so many reasons why this can never be true. Successful people become successful only after doing tons and tons of hard work and experiencing failures, something that most people don’t realize.
There are also certain actions that keep us from reaching our goals. If any of these actions sound like something you’re doing, stop doing them now—and you will increase your chances of achieving success.
1. Wanting different results, but not changing your actions.
How many times have you tried to achieve something, only to fail over and over again? Albert Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Pretty harsh, but very true.
The most dangerous trap here is that you may be stuck in the past. If you’re doing the something over and over again, and you still don’t get different results, then you really have a problem that must be solved immediately. Here’s how you should approach this situation:
- Stop whatever you’re doing and analyze very carefully the actions you perform every day.
- Think about the bigger picture, and avoid thinking short term. Sometimes, our goals become confused because we’re on a roll and we never take a break to reassess whatever we’re trying to reach.
- Start identifying any actions that are not productive, and stop performing them
- Identify actions you’ve never taken that can bring you whatever result you expect, and immediately start taking action.
- Always trace your results; think of it as a cause and effect principle. Ask yourself from time to time: “Are the actions I am taking (cause) bringing me the desired results (effect)?
2. Looking for shortcuts to success.
If you believe that success comes without a price, you’re wrong; if you believe success is easy, or can be achieved quickly, you’re wrong again. Please, do yourself a favor and get rid of these false beliefs and quickly begin seeing success how it actually is: hard work, commitment, consistency, failure, time, disappointments, and the list goes on.
Here’s a really interesting way of looking at success:
A person has to remember that the road to success is always under construction. You have to get that through your head. That it is not easy becoming successful.”—Steve Harvey
There are no tricks, no shortcuts, no “magic pills” here. And if you’ve seen those fancy ads that promise you the jackpot if you do X simple action, believe me, it’s all fake. This is how smart people take money from desperate, mediocre people, who actually buy those promises believing they’ll actually make it. Ninety-nine percent end up reading the same regurgitated nonsense that’s all over the internet, and never achieve the success they want.
3. Waiting for a ‘right time’ to get started.
You can keep lying to yourself and say that you will start that project tomorrow, or the next week, or the next month, or when the “right time” comes. Yes, do that…then you have more chances of spending your entire life being mediocre, planning and procrastinating and waiting for that “special moment” or that big breakthrough that will allow you to achieve success.
Well, there is no perfect moment. What you’re actually doing is making excuses not to do the work immediately. The truth is very successful people got to where they wanted to because they understood this simple concept: You create your own success now , working on something in the present moment. It all starts with that. Please be aware that success is built inch-by-inch, and there’s no right time to start.
4. Not taking full responsibility of your situation and blaming others.
If you’re born poor it’s not your mistake, if you die poor it’s your mistake.”—Bill Gates
One common trait of successful people is that they take full responsibility for their lives. If something goes wrong, they don’t blame the person next to them. They are aware that only by having a huge sense of responsibility on their shoulders can they improve the quality of their lives. So instead of crying and blaming and judging others, they immediately assess what they did wrong and look for ways to fix it, or never repeat the same mistake again.
Everyone has problems in their lives. Successful or not successful, everyone is facing dozens of problems every day. Think about yourself; identify some things that you’re not content with. Now ask yourself objectively, whose fault is it? Is it your colleague’s fault? Your girlfriend’s? Or is it yours entirely because you didn’t do enough or you haven’t approached things correctly? Start taking responsibility for your life immediately, and witness how success becomes easier!
5. Allowing the fear of failure to hold you back.
No man ever achieved worth-while success who did not, at one time or other, find himself with at least one foot hanging well over the brink of failure.”—Napoleon Hill
Even though fear of failure can sometimes be perceived consciously, most of the time it lies deep within our subconscious minds. For most people, failure is something terrifying, something they never want to have in their lives. When the fear of failure is present, people become extremely reluctant to do what needs to be done, and have a difficult time getting starting or being consistent with their goals.
If you go to Google and type in “successful people who have failed,” you’ll see lots of examples of people who have failed many times, but never stopped and became extremely successful. What kept them going? There are many possible answers, but an obvious one is they weren’t afraid to fail over and over again.
6. Afraid of asking for help.
If you believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness, you’re not alone. A lot of people miss out on many opportunities because they were afraid to ask for help; they were afraid to ask for things they weren’t sure about. Successful leaders and individuals understand that it’s no shame in asking for some help once in a while.
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever”—Chinese Proverb
You got it? You don’t want to be a fool, so stop being afraid of asking other people for help or answers!
Final Thoughts
Success is a big word. It’s so complex because it has so many definitions. Define your success and then start equipping yourself with the right mind-set and attitudes every single day. Start applying what you learn, and always keep going until you reach your desired results.
About the Author
Post by: Karen Dikson
Karen Dikson is a writer and marketing expert. Her works have been publishing on The Huffington Post. She is a creative thinker who follows through and gets things done. In her free time, Karen enjoys traveling.
Website: www.edugeeksclub.com
Connect with me on Twitter
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